1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchange system for cooling or heating an object subjected to heat exchange (hereinafter referred to as heat-exchange object) in contact with an outer surface of a body by passing a heat transfer medium through a heat-exchange chamber in the body, and a rotor having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In manufacturing equipment for kneading, coating or a rolling process, rotors or rollers having a heat exchange system are commonly used to maintain temperatures of raw materials or fabricated materials in a predetermined range by heating or cooling.
This conventional heat exchange system, as typically shown in a bored roll, has a large heat-exchange chamber in a body of a roller or a rotor. A supply pipe communicates with the heat-exchange chamber. A heat transfer medium, such as cooling water, is fed into the heat-exchange chamber from one end of the body through the supply pipe and discharged at the same end, as is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-104262 (shown in FIG. 1 of disclosed document). Alternatively, as typically shown in a drilled roll, a plurality of flow channels are formed along an outer surface of the body from one end to the other end and the heat transfer medium flows through the channels, as is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-277145 (shown in FIG. 1 of disclosed document). Additionally, the body, which is composed of a plurality of components, and a flow channel of the heat transfer medium are formed in one operation, as is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-261725 (shown in FIG. 3 of disclosed document).
In bored roll methods, generating high uniform heat exchange capability over the whole body requires the heat transfer medium with a predetermined temperature to flow rapidly and turbulently near a wall of the heat-exchange chamber in the body; however, it is difficult to enable the heat transfer medium to flow at sufficient velocity since the heat transfer medium flows from the supply pipe having a small flow cross-sectional area to the heat-exchange chamber in the body having a large flow cross-sectional area. In addition, the flow of the heat transfer medium from one end to the other end of the body generally causes a big difference between temperatures on the upstream side and on the downstream side. As a result, the total heat exchange capability is disadvantageously lowered and the heat exchange capability along an axis of the body is not uniform.
Alternatively, a plurality of ports are formed on an outer periphery of the supply pipe and jet streams of the heat transfer medium are discharged to an inner surface of the heat-exchange chamber. In this case, a long distance between the supply pipe and the inner surface of the heat-exchange chamber significantly reduces the flow velocity of the heat transfer medium at the inner surface due to flow resistance.
On the other hand, in drilled roll methods, the formation of a flow channel having a small flow cross-sectional area along the outer surface of the body allows the heat transfer medium to flow rapidly through the flow channel. However, the flow of the heat transfer medium from one end to the other end of the body disadvantageously causes the heat exchange capability along the axis of the body to be non-uniform due to a big difference between the temperatures on the upstream side and on the downstream side. Further, this method requires a drilling process for forming the flow channel along the outer surface of the body, resulting in high manufacturing cost. Also, this method cannot be applied to a complicated-shaped body.
Forming the body from a plurality of components allows for a formation of desired flow channels even if the body has a complicated-shaped outer surface; however, a large number of body components and complexity of the structure increase time and cost for manufacturing the body. In addition, the flow of the heat transfer medium from one end to the other end of the heat-exchange chamber having a large flow cross-sectional area may disadvantageously cause the total heat exchange capability to be lowered and the heat exchange capability along the axis of the body to be non-uniform.